Studio Neat's new Glif is adjustable to fit whatever device you need it to, and functions as a stand or tripod mount.

Too often, gadget blogs feature posts listing gadgets they claim are the "best of," or "top 10," or whatever, and it feels like they're just clearing a stack of news releases off their desks. But Macworld offered a "Great gear you might have missed" article last week that seems like it might genuinely solve some problems. What caught my eye in particular were the Kanex DoubleUp (I could use one on my nightstand), Griffin's 3-meter Lightning cable (both my kids would love to have one in the car) and Studio Neat's updated Glif (pictured).

It tests your glucose levels by monitoring your tears. I'm not diabetic, but the tech here sounds like something out of Star Trek — "chips and sensors so small they look like bits of glitter, and an antenna thinner than a human hair." For power, it generates static electricity from ambient radio waves. I won't be in the market for one, as will be the case with most of us, but you've got to stop for a moment and think: How cool is that?

The AP has a story today on the Nabu, a fitness-style wristband from gaming company Razer that also receives notifications like a smartwatch. To wit:

As a fitness tracker, the Nabu wristband tells you about your sleep patterns and the number of steps taken and the stairs climbed. As a smartwatch, it offers notifications about incoming texts and emails.

If you join the developer program, you can order one now for $49. It's unclear what you'll pay as, y'know, an ordinary, run-of-the-mill consumer — but that's an intriguing price point. With a Pebble going for $150 (and their new glass and metal Pebble Steel priced at $250), a Nabu that costs even close to $49 off the shelf could be an interesting option. Read more here.

Everyone knows that having a plan in place to back up all the family photos, email and financial records on your home computer is a good thing. Unfortunately, few of us actually have such a plan in place. If one of your New Year's resolutions is to finally star backing up all your important stuff, and your computer happens to be a Mac, AppleInsider has some good advice to get your backup plan up and running. I'm curious about why they don't mention CrashPlan, the service I use for offisite backups — but let's not quibble. Any backup plan is better than no backup plan.

About this blog

Living in a convenient and connected world means keeping up to date on the latest technology and gadgets. To help you sort out what's worth exploring for your own tech needs, we'll give you a one-stop guide to some of the newest products on the market — smartphones, cameras, video games, automotive products, household gadgets and more. In other words, the cool stuff.